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Jindis
The Jindis Strip, commonly known simply as Jindis, is not a country; rather it is a region, a large swathe of land that bisects the continent of Esvaan in twain. Its northern and southern edges touch the Ascendant sea and the Mirrorscale Ocean, respectively, while it is surrounded on all sides by land. To the east, north to south, its vague borders meet Lyen, Fel and Carrhen respectively, while to the west it touches the ancestral lands of Avalon. Due to the proximity to Avalon and the center of the Warpstorm, sections of the Jindis Strip are plagued by horrors unimaginable, and sights found there can defy those found anywhere in the world. History Jindis' history is long and arduous. The sight of many a battle during the Drowning War, the creation of the Warpstorm and the chaos that ensued directly succeeding the drowning caused what lands had been held there to fall into turmoil. For nearly a millennium, Jindis has seen countries rise and fall as warlords vied for power, created cities, and were subsequently ransacked and killed by their competitors and successors. This, if nothing else, is the reason why the region is known as Jindis; only a smattering of cities have withstood the test of time and struggle, and maps are drawn, redrawn, and wiped faster than any cartographer could hope to match. Even the outer borders of Jindis are only vague guides, as various warlords attempt to push into their neighbors' territory, only to be pushed back or for their advance to be cut off by a rival at the rear. Some six hundred years before present day, a series of powerful earthquakes shattered some of the cities that remained standing from the time before the Drowning. In the years to come, these would become commonplace. A side effect of the earth beneath it shifting near constantly is that great rends and ravines are often formed, and artifacts from the time of the Old World often rise to the surface. Warlords turned their eyes from ruling countries to possessing these great relics, either to use for their own purposes or to sell to the highest bidder. The most notable of these is the city of Stenheim, a sprawling landscape built on top of the largest rift known, within which lie a great city from the First Civilization. Stenheim itself is a series of concentric rings going down into the pit a ways, with massive scaffolding holding other settlements and shanty towns suspended across the pit. Over the centuries, thousands of factions have held the city and fought for it tooth and nail, sending expeditions into the ruins below to strip them of everything of value, or die from traps and automatons trying. The ruins themselves sprawl for miles, to the point where many believe only a fraction of the territory has been explored. In the most recent decades, however, mining into deeper sections of the city has unleashed the Unseen Plague. First discovered nearly seventy years ago, mining expeditions have now uncovered several buildings with fissures and strange ores. Those that remain too close, or worse, within these buildings will rapidly grow sick and weakly; those that remain for too long will find their insides liquefying. Even those that remain for short periods will often find themselves dying sometimes years afterwards of weakness of the heart, tumors, or other diseases. It cannot be seen, heard, smelled or treated, and is arguably the one thing Jindisians fear other than the effects of the Warp - which is not enough to stop Relic Divers from approaching these areas anyway. Stenheim is far from the only Rift, only the largest and deepest, though there are many others that are also hosts to the Unseen plague. A warlord seeking minimal risk for highest profit will often seek out newer Rifts instead, as the wealth of old world armor and weaponry is greater, and the Plague less prominent. Geography Its climate is extremely varied; frigid in the farther northern regions, temperate along its border with Fel, and veering towards desert-like and then tropical as it goes south and reaches the Mirrorscale. The most feared place in Jindis is the Wasteland, a strip of land some fifteen miles wide that directly borders Avalon. It is a no man's land - no life grows, and all but a smattering of those who enter will ever return alive. It is a twisted place, patrolled by the Swarm - a seemingly living collection of miniature warptstorms, some smaller than an ant, none larger than a fist, which will seek out any living and effectively 'bite' small chunks out of them, ripping them apart as their body is split among thousands of warp worlds. The most notable cities within are Stenheim, city of the Rift, Karra, the Old Iron Wake, and the free city of Emerald Fields. Stenheim is the oldest of the three, and has remained standing in one way or another for centuries, found near midway from the east and west areas of the strip, and located towards the far south. Karra is found more towards the north, near the northern Fel border, and is reputed for its wealth of Old Iron. The sky above Karra never veers away from black, as the wealth of refineries that roar at all hours send ash and smoke up unendingly. The city is looks like a proper one, unlike many in Jindis, with high walls and something approximating a local militia, relatively well equipped. All around it, however, is a wasteland, with the ribs of old Guardian Titans sprouting from the ground, the entire valley a First Civilisation battlefield. . While technically founded shortly after the Drowning, Karra only became a proper city some four hundred years ago, when it built its walls and declared itself an independent nation. Emerald Fields is the youngest, created only some few centuries past. So named because of the Emerald fields surrounding it, it is truly a marvel to behold. The fields are so named because of massive waves of vitrified, emerald-green glass, against the largest of which is the city proper built. It is recognized in Jindis for being an independent nation and a neutral party to all, and is an active merchant hub and center of immigration. It is also reputed for being the home of the Knight of Emerald fields, whose mastery of the sword can only be said to be rivaled by the Knight of Crows and the Golden Swordsman - though unlike these two, the Knight rarely wanders the world without reason. Culture and social structure Category:Geography